Knowledge bank: Europe’s minor nations can breathe a sigh of relief as doomsday has been temporarily averted. At the April 2005 congress in Tallin, UEFA changed procedures for replacing President Lennart Johansson. This delayed Franz Beckenbauer’s seemingly inevitable advance to European football’s top job with his suggestions for preliminary rounds before international qualifying tournaments.

Knowledge bank: The breakaway republic of Northern Cyprus is set to host the first ever world cup for nations that don't exist. Recognised only by Turkey, which invaded the Mediterranean island in 1974, Northern Cyprus will host the 16-team Viva World Cup in November 2006.

Knowledge bank: One hand, the military dictatorship used the soccer World Cup 1978 to gain political prestige at home and abroad. On the other, the Argentinians celebrated football because they regarded it as something of their own. Indeed, this World Cup had many faces...

Sepp Blatter's cash-strapped FIFA are in turmoil this week after he sacked one of his closest aides - but agreed to pay his salary, around GBP150,000 a year, until the end of 2006.

Player agents from Proactive, an international firm of agents, can negotiate with each other and represent both parties in a negotiation situation. If left to the Fedration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), at any rate.

More than 150 professional footballers are likely to be playing under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs, according to a study carried out by the BBC.

One of Europe's largest football management agencies, Proactive, has created a network of players, coaches and agents buying and selling players from each other.

The favourite nephew of tyrant Robert Mugabe has been fired as boss of Zimbabwe football for being unable to account for a USD61,000 grant from FIFA for developing youth facilities.